“Witnesses indicated to us that the suspect was verbally challenging to the officer,” Crump maintains. “Brisbon refused to comply with the officer’s commands to get on the ground, and the two struggled once the officer caught up with him.”

“During the struggle, Brisbon put his left hand in his pocket and the officer grabbed onto the suspect’s hand, while repeatedly telling the suspect to keep his hand [out of] his pocket,” Crump said. “The officer believed he felt the handle of a gun while holding the suspect’s hand in his pocket.”

According to police the struggle then made its way into an apartment after a resident happened to open the door. Eventually the officer, unnamed but identified by witnesses as white, shot and killed Brisbon. He was found to have been holding on to a bottle of oxycodone pills, police say.

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An internal investigation into the incident has been launched but police have defended the officers actions.

“Let’s be very clear: The officer was doing what we expect him to do,” spokesperson Crump said. “Investigate crimes that neighbors are telling him are occurring in that part of the complex. Even voluntary transactions.”

Following the incident, chairperson of the African American Police Advisory for South Phoenix, Ann Hart, called for “a deeper dive into why police officers are feeling compelled to shoot and kill as opposed to apprehend and detain, arrest and jail.”